


dreamless sleep

by thedevilchicken



Category: Pitch Black (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick Series
Genre: Drabble Sequence, Ghost Sex, Hallucinations, M/M, Post-Canon, Space Flight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 16:01:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19771624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedevilchicken/pseuds/thedevilchicken
Summary: When Riddick starts to see things in cryosleep, those things are William Johns.





	dreamless sleep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hecate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hecate/gifts).



Cryosleep freezes his body, not his mind. But when Johns appears, big as life and twice as ugly, he wonders what the fuck's malfunctioning. 

"Ain't you a sight for sore eyes," John says, and slings one leg across him. He sits astride Riddick's thighs, heavy as a horse, though Riddick's the one getting ridden. Just not _that_ way. 

Riddick can't speak or move. He hates cryosleep; he doesn't sleep, just wallows in shitty induced paralysis while his body escapes time. 

But he's coming up on his destination. The cryo starts to disengage. 

"Be seeing you," Johns says. 

He hopes not. 

\---

The next time Johns shows up, it's just as weird. 

Riddick can't speak. _You look good for a guy who got ripped limb from limb_ , he thinks. _Much as you ever did. You fucking junkie son of a bitch_. 

Johns straddles his lap. He smiles like a wolf. "I know I'm pretty," he says. "Don't live in denial." 

Thing is, he's right. Eight years since M6-117, the bastard looks the same. 

_Screw you, Billy_ , Riddick thinks. 

"In your dreams, Dick," Johns replies. 

The cryo starts to disengage. Johns salutes and walks away. 

_In your dreams_ , Johns said. 

He _is_ dreaming. 

\---

He floats aimlessly between systems. 

He works sometimes, when he's not running. Most folks down give a shit what he's done, just what he _can_ do. Most never even heard his name. 

In cryo, sleeping, Johns won't shut the fuck up. 

"Miss me?" Johns asks, the next time. 

_No_ , Riddick replies. _I really didn't_. 

"So, why me?" Johns asks, the next time. 

_No clue_ , Riddick replies. _I'd pick your daddy over you_.

"So, what am I, an hallucination?" Johns asks, this time. He rocks his hips against him. He sure feels real. 

Riddick needs to get his cryo unit checked. 

\---

Next time, Billy changes tack. He's quiet. _Too_ quiet. He sits out of eyeline. Riddick knows he's there 'cause he hears his breath. 

The same next time, and next time, the next six times. The time after, he wants to tell him: _stop being such an ass_. Instead, he thinks: _you remember that time on Cerulean_?

Johns pauses. "Yeah," he says. "I was wasted."

 _You spent forty minutes sitting in my lap then blew me in an alley_.

Johns snorts. He comes closer. He straddles Riddick's lap again. 

"Mistakes were made," he says. 

Riddick knows he's making one right now.

\---

Riddick can't touch. He can still _be_ touched. 

Imaginary Johns looks great imaginary naked. Like before, he gives great head, but right now he's riding him. They never did that. Should be weirder, fucking Johns' wiseass ghost. 

It was always cat-and-mouse before - they just switched up who was which and when. Truth is, Riddick's missed it. He likes being alone, 'cept when he doesn't. 

When Riddick comes in him, Johns laughs. "Got another round left before we land?" he asks. 

Years later, Riddick's never had the unit checked. He never will. 

He's not real. But he lets him feel real.


End file.
